Virtual Program
For over a century, birds have served as valuable sentinel species for air pollution. From the canaries used by coal miners to monitor noxious gasses in the early 1900s, to the mass avian die-off in the Western U.S. following the catastrophic 2020 fire season, the fate of birds has foreshadowed our own vulnerability to toxic air. Yet, research on the impacts of air pollution on birds is extremely limited. It is challenging to design traditional field studies to capture sudden and sometimes unpredictable changes in air pollution, such as wildfire smoke events. By engaging the public in data collection, we can amplify our survey effort and more effectively study avian responses to air pollution. Our collective bird observations will help unravel this mystery.
All are welcome to attend this free event but RSVP is required.
About the Speaker:
Olivia Sanderfoot is a postdoctoral fellow in the UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science studying the effects of wildfire smoke and urban air pollution on birds. She is currently leading Project Phoenix, a regional community science project to investigate bird responses to wildfire smoke in the western United States. She aims to discover how wildfire smoke impacts bird behavior and shapes species distributions, with the goal of informing conservation strategies to shepherd birds through ever-smokier summers.
Olivia was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin and is proud of her Midwest roots. Olivia is driven by her passion for environmental policy and conservation, her love for birds, and her strong belief in the Wisconsin Idea – the philosophy that a university’s research should be applied to solve problems and improve the health, well-being, and environment of the community it serves.
Olivia believes birding is a superpower, and all community scientists are superheroes. Olivia could not be more excited to lead Project Phoenix and engage communities across the West Coast in monitoring and protecting the birds that bring us such joy.
About the series:
Compelling Voices in Birding and Conservation is a joint program series from Chicago Ornithological Society, Chicago Audubon Society, and Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Now in it’s sixth year, this special series features unique speakers with very different backgrounds and often under-represented voices. Join us for energizing and engaging presentations from speakers from across the country and spanning expertise throughout the world of bird watching, conservation, and environmental issues.